124 WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMEHICA 



All along the coast, opposite the Constable, and 

 indeed on every uncultivated part of it to wind- 

 ward and leeward, are seen innumerable quanti- 

 ties of Snow-white Egrets, Scarlet Curlews, 

 Spoonbills, and Flamingos. 



Cayenne is capable of being a noble and pro- 

 ductive colony. At present it is thought to be the 

 poorest on the coast of Guiana. Its estates are 

 too much separated one from the other by im- 

 mense tracts of forest; and the revolutionary 

 war, like a cold eastern wind, has chilled their 

 zeal and blasted their best expectations. 



The Clove-tree, the Cinnamon, Pepper and 

 Nutmeg, and many other choice spices and fruits 

 of the eastern and Asiatic regions, produce abun- 

 dantly in Cayenne. 



The town itself is prettily laid out, and was 

 once well fortified. They tell you it might easily 

 have been defended against the invading force 

 of the two united nations ; but Victor Hugues, its 

 governor, ordered the tri-coloured flag to be 

 struck; and ever since that day the standard of 

 Braganza has waved on the ramparts of Cayenne. 



He who has received humiliations from the 

 hand of this haughty, iron-hearted governor, may 

 see him now in Cayenne, stripped of all his revo- 

 lutionary honours, broken down and ruined, and 

 under arrest in his own house. He has four ac- 

 complished daughters, respected by the whole 

 town. Towards the close of day, when the sun's 

 rays are no longer oppressive, these much-pitied 

 ladies are seen walking up and down the balcony 

 with their aged parent, trying, by their kind and 



